Eagles soar through Canucks, stumble against Kodiaks in weekend contests

Canmore Eagle Alex Young scores a goal as goalie Brett Balas looks up at him during the Eagles game against the Calgary Canucks on Saturday, November 17, 2018. photo by Pam Doyle/www.pamdoylephoto.comPam Doyle/www.pamdoylephoto.com

A pair of high-scoring contests left the Canmore Eagles right in the mix of things in Alberta Junior Hockey League action this past weekend.

The Eagles (12-9-3) finished the weekend net-zero in the win-loss column after a commanding 8-2 victory over a struggling Calgary Canucks side at home on Saturday night and a disappointing 7-2 road defeat at the hands of the Camrose Kodiaks on Sunday afternoon.

“I think so far we’re playing well. We’ve had some moments where we’ve been real good and we’ve had some moments where we definitely need to improve,” said Eagles Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne after Saturday’s contest, which saw Connor Lyons lead the way with two goals as seven different players found the back of the net for the Canmore squad.

“I think we picked on an opponent that’s struggling a little bit right now, so as much as scoring eight’s great for the hockey club, we’re also not oblivious to the fact that we know that they’re struggling a bit.”

Sunday’s game, on the other hand, didn’t quite go exactly as planned for the Eagles.

Heading into an early season tilt with a divisional rival in the Kodiaks, Milne said the Eagles were hoping to come out strong, especially considering the fact they were on the second half of a back-to-back.

“The first 10 minutes is going to be important for us to – what I’ll call – weather their storm and slow them down a bit because they’re going to come with some pace,” he said.

That wasn’t quite the way the game played out, however, as the Kodiaks jumped in front early with a Carson Kurylo power play goal just five minutes in and never relinquished that lead.

Kurylo’s marker wouldn’t be the last power play goal the Eagles would surrender either, as Camrose went five-for-nine on the power play while the Eagles turned in a disappointing 0-for-12 performance with the man-advantage.

That’s not to say that the game was a total write-off for Canmore, though.

Despite their special teams woes, the Eagles outshot the Kodiaks 35-32 in the contest and 17-year-old sophomore Alex Young continued his point-per-game scoring pace with a goal in both games this weekend, bringing his season totals to 14 goals and 25 points in 24 games.

Milne also noted that he’s been impressed with the performance of 17-year-old Max Giangualano, who has already eclipsed his scoring totals from last season (14 goals, 21 points in 59 games) with 14 goals and 25 points in just 24 games so far this year.

“He’s a guy we knew could score, we knew he could play a pretty handy game and Max has come in and done a great job for us this year. He’s really put himself in a good position for success moving forward,” said Milne.

The weekend split-decision leaves the Eagles with 27 points, good for a fourth-place split with the Kodiaks in the AJHL North Division standings and just three points behind the second-place Drumheller Dragons.

The Eagles were back in action on Tuesday night as they played host to the Olds Grizzlys at the Canmore Recreation Centre to begin a three-game home stand that will also see the Grand Prairie Storm and Whitecourt Wolverines roll into town on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Puck drop on all those games is a 7 p.m.